Black History

9-1. A Slave Named America.

Manuscript list of plantation property with individual values for fifteen named slaves, plus “90  bushels of potatoes $33.75, 3 hogs 5.00, 82 barrels of corn 164.00....” 7 x 8, n.d. but c. 1835-  50, n.p. but from a group of Alabama documents. Unusual for its precise valuations:  frequently encountered in whole numbers, even rounded to the nearest hundred dollars, this  inventory includes “Lucy ($)513, Ruben 1014, Fanny and child 817, Porter 682, Willson 628,  Duke 437, America 387, Angelina 346, Harriet 534, Cynthia 424, Mary 366,” et al. Certainly  prepared for a slaveholder’s estate. Weak at folds, rice-sized internal piece lacking, affecting  no text, fine chipping at right edge, else good, and suitable for display. $90-120 

9-2. Escape to Freedom – on the Underground Railroad.

Exceptionally notable reward broadside for runaway slaves, as young as two years of age,  including one man found to have escaped via the Underground Railroad. Slaveowner Isaac  Scaggs, Baltimore, Sept. 7, 1857, 7¾ x 12. Uncommonly numerous medley of ornamental  wood typefaces. “$500 Reward / Ran away, or decoyed from the subscriber, living near  Beltsville, Prince George’s County, Md., on Sat., Sept. 5, 1857,  Mulatto Woman, Maria! From 30 to 35 years of age, and very stout. Negro Boy, Dall! Dark Mulatto, 13 years of age, stout and well grown. Negro Boy, Lem 11 years of age, Black, has a scar on the side of his breast, caused by a burn. Negro Boy, Bill Generally called “Shug,” 8 years of age. Negro Boy, Ben, 2 years of age. Also, Negro Man, Adam About 30 years of age, 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high, stoutly built, full suit of hair. He ran away on Sat., the 22nd of Aug., and I think has returned and induced his Wife and Children off. I will give $500 reward for them...or, I will give $300 Reward for Adam....” Runaway Adam earned a place in the annals of American freedom: he is specifically recorded  as having been liberated from Scaggs via the Underground Railroad. An account published in  1872 (modern copy accompanies) describes: “...With his fellow-passengers, George and  Thomas, he [Adam] greatly enjoyed the hospitalities of the Underground Rail Road in the city  of Brotherly Love, and had a very high idea of Canada, as he anticipated becoming a British  subject at an early day. The story which Adam  related concerning his master and his reasons for  escaping ran thus: “‘My master was a very easy man,  but would work you hard and never allow you any  chance night or day; he was a farmer, about fifty,  stout, full face, a real country ruffian; member of no  church, a great drinker and gambler; will sell a slave  as quick as any other slave-holder. He had a great  deal of cash, but did not rank high in society. His  wife was very severe; hated a colored man to have any comfort in the world. They had eight  adult and nine young slaves.’ Adam left because he ‘didn’t like the treatment.’ Twice he had  been placed on the auction-block. He was a married man and left a wife and one child.”--The  Underground Rail Road, A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating  Hardships, Hair-breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in their Effort for  Freedom..., by William Still, 1872. Slaveowner Scaggs, previously a county tax collector, had  been appellant in 1856 in a legally significant case, suing the Baltimore & Washington Rail  Road for death of his slave, struck by a train. A lower court had found against him, evidently  declaring that his slave did not enjoy the status of “any horse, cow, mule, hog or sheep...”  whose killing by a train was compensible. Nearly uniform mocha toning, horizontal  waterstain along center fold, lacking 1” triangular upper right corner, mousechew at lower  right, some smaller defects along blank margins, internal tear at upper right, probably where  publicly posted. Neatly mounted to larger sheet, judged c. 1930s, else good, and eminently suited for display. Perhaps a singularly  important surviving slave broadside, certainly the first we have handled with direct link(s) to the Underground Railroad.  Notwithstanding the later citation of “wife and one child,” it appears that Adam did return – to aid Maria and the four others in fleeing.  They too were likely shepherded to the Underground Railroad. While slavery was common in Maryland, when such posters are  encountered, they are usually from more Southern locales. Almost certainly unique thus. Acquired from Parke-Bernet Galleries,  antecedent of Sotheby’s in New York, 1970s. Modern research accompanies. $8,500-11,500

9-3. “...And if they are sold apart they marry again....”

Superb letter with black content, from Union Cpl. Sylvester Kimball, (apparently 6th Mich. Infantry), n.p., Feb. 1, (1863), 5 x 8. “...I  dremp [dreamt] of being in battle. I was standing by a house before the last battle with some more men and there was a rebel came  running to us with his gun...and one of our men halted him...then he started to run and one of our men shot him in the thigh...We took  his gun and asked him questions...I never went a day from home in my life...If we live we will see that day...but the time will seem  long...Our nig(g)er cooks are having a prare [sic] meeting, praying and singing. They think they are Christians and they will swear and  steal and dance. They don’t know any better. You would die laughing to hear them tell about their times when they was at home. They  get married and if they are sold apart they marry again. They don’t seem to care...We have got some here that is married and they was  after other wenches before they had been from there only a week. They are used to it. They don’t care where they be if they have enough  to eat and they get more with us then they did at home, and so they don’t steal sometimes. They steal clothes and then we hustle them  off and get another, but my old Pete I believe is honest. I hant never caught him in any trick yet...It rains as hard as it can pour  down...The tent begins to leak. The boys on guard have to stand and take it...What a pile of paper we have rote...We ought to be good  riters but I don’t see we rite much better...Riting curled up on my knap sack....” Some smudges by writer’s hand, else about fine and  clean. Surprisingly, there were two Sylvester Kimballs serving from Michigan, however our writer seems to be the one who died of  disease at Port Hudson, La. just six months later. An uncommon - and uncommonly bare discussion of blacks caught in the crosswinds  of war; Kimball’s locale can probably be determined with research. At this time, the 6th Mich. was under the Dept. of the Gulf. $225-  275

9-4. “The night rule which forbids negroes to be out after 10.”

Lengthy, wonderfully witty letter of C.M. Wright, exuberant daughter traveling with her father, newly-elected Whig Congressman  William Wright of N.J. From Washington, Dec. 4, 1843, 7½ x 9¾, 4 pp. To her brother at Princeton University. Unusual example of  free frank of a minor(?), signing her father’s name, with the comment on adjacent panel, “Great time writing the ‘Free - Hon. Wm.  Wright.’ Please observe.” Pale red Washington c.d.s. and straight-line “Free.” Showing the style of a precocious young woman: “...brief  epitomes of what is passing in this world of political excitement & legislative nonsense...On the strength of the newly acquired  ‘Congressional Honors,’ I carried a letter of introduction from Miss Mason, daughter of Gen. M. of Va. to some friends in the  Monumental City [Baltimore], Judge Magruder’s family, and never was I more delightfully & hospitably entertained...so much charmed  with Baltimore, Barnum’s &c. as to be quite dissatisfied with our grandam Madam Ulric, who to tell the truth is no epicure in table  manners. Plenty of Potomac herring & corn bread. I had a call from McClery on Mon. just as we were preparing to leave for the Capitol.  He walked down with us, pointed out Mr. & Mrs. R. Tyler [the writer certainly means the President, J(ohn) Tyler]...His residence is  quite near our place of abode. We had an invitation...to a party at Mrs. Taylor’s, a very elegant affair, attended by all the ‘eye-lights’ of  the city...Mrs. Madison was among the guests. John Thompson arrived here... perfectly delighted here & grinning from ear to ear,  proclaims this a ‘much finer place than Newark.’ The circumstances of having slaves to clean the horses seems to afford him infinite  satisfaction & the only drawback is the night rule which forbids negroes to be out after 10 under penalty of law...Being at present so  near the White House, look forward one day to walking in with greater privileges still. Ahem?...Apropos of the White House I have  before me a note of invitation with the armorial bearings of the Presidential dignity requesting the presence of Hon. Wm. Wright’s  company on Tues...Great have been the surmised & finally the conclusion drawn is that Mrs. Tyler wishes him as a guest at a dinner  company ...Something quite distingué, is it not?...The notice you gave of the Union Blues Ball was too late....” Wear at fold junctions,  light handling, else about fine, dark, and clean. A splendid missive. $130-170 

9-5. “The last year’s experience shows that the Planter and the Negro comprehend the Revolution.”

Rare, eloquent Southern newspaper begun in the aftermath of emancipation: The Acorn, New Orleans, Mar. 12, 1864, Vol. I, No. 11, 9 x  12, 8 pp., opening as a full press sheet. “A Semi-Monthly Paper, Devoted to Unconditional Unionism and Universal Freedom,” pub. by  Union Ladies’ Aid Association. “Friday the 4th day of Mar., 1864 was a proud day for Louisiana. Her return to the legitimate position, a  place among that galaxy of brilliant stars which is destined to become a beacon light for the whole world, was heralded by roaring  cannon, merry bells and the united voice of 6,000 children who in a few years will be the men and women into whose hands will be  placed the reins of government...assembled at Lafayette Square to witness the inauguration of the new civil governor...History...will dip  her pen in truth’s eternal fountain when she writes the record of our State, having wiped out the stain of slavery by hearty acceptance of  Universal Liberty....” Inside, “The Union As It Was - This is a party catch word among Copperheads...The Union as it was, when? In  1800 or 1860?...A new Southern President, or a Northern doughface with Southern principles, must be inaugurated...the Cabinet must  be filled with another set of Floyds, Cobbs and Thompsons...and the Supreme Court must be constructed in the exclusive interest of  slavery...Many thousands of slaves have been declared free...now incorporated among the freemen of the country; these must all be  remanded to slavery...An utter impossibility...Let teachings of Copperheads be followed...and five years would not pass before another  civil war, and our children would have only a heritage of blood.” Nearly 1½ -page printing of Gen. Banks’ General Order, “Regulations  for a System of Labor - All Plantations must be Worked - Idleness and Vagrancy will not be Tolerated....” Setting forth over twenty  conditions for treatment of former slaves and management of plantations: “Flogging and other cruel or unusual punishment are  interdicted... Establishment of a sufficient number of schools...for the instruction of colored children under 12... Laborers will be  permitted to choose their employers...A Free Labor Bank will be established...The transportation of negro families to other countries  will not be approved...The last year’s experience shows that the Planter and the Negro comprehend the Revolution. The overseer...  dislikes the trouble of thinking, and discredits the notion that anything new has occurred. He is a relic of the past...The amnesty offered  for the past...will be enforced with an iron hand. Whoever is indifferent or hostile, must choose between the liberty which foreign lands  afford, the poverty of the Rebel states, and the inumerable...blessings which our Government confers upon its people....” Minor edge  toning, soft diagonal folds at blank lower left, else V.G. The Library of Congress’ Chronicling America database locates only three  examples of this issue (within four holdings of this title). $175-250 

9-6. Black-Themed Advertising.

Full color chromolithographed trade card-style handbill with stereotypical artwork of older black man extolling “Dixon’s Carburet of  Iron Stove Polish” to ten black children gathered round a (black) heater. 1882, 5¼ x 6. “What Uncle Obadiah says about Dixon’s Stove  Polish.” A black baby in wooden crib admires a box of the product, another climbs back of his chair to have a look, as others listen  raptly. About 2/3 of text in black dialect on verso visible, balance under old brown mounting paper. “...I bin usin’ Dixon’s Stove Polish  fer nigh onter 60 years an’ dey can’t [sell] me inter usin’ any odder, an’ eberybody will tell [you] de same. An’ now chillen, listen to an  ole man....” Glue stains on verso, but blending with tan background, else good plus. $55-75 

9-7. With Stereotypical Black Cover Art.

Humorous “dime hand book,” “Add Ryman’s Stump Speeches,” with woodcut-tinted cover view of a plump stereotypical black,  spectacles askew, outlandishly attired in cerise tails, green vest, and blue pants, holding forth at a table, delivering a speech.  “Containing an Entirely New and Original Collection of...Humorous Lectures On all the principal Topics of the Day, as Delivered by the  Great Burlesque Orator - The Richest and most Mirth-provoking Contribution...that has ever been published.” Benedict Popular  Publishing Co., 37 Bond St., N.Y., n.d. but c. 1880. 4¾ x 6¾, 61 + (19) pp. advertisements for other dime handbooks, including Dutch,  Irish, Negro, Yankee, and Hebrew dialect “comic recitationists.” Introduction cites Ryman as “one of the ‘49ers of Negro Minstrelsy,  having been a collaborator in the good work of making people laugh with such old-timers as...Dan Bryant....” Historically interesting  exemplars of vintage American standup comedy, including his earnestly humorous speeches on fish, “Bald-Headed Men - A Medical  [sic] Lecture,” the Fourth of July, Mormons, the West, and much in black dialect, including “How de Norf Pole got Lost,” “Cibil Rights  an’ Rulers ob dis Country,” and “Stick a Pin Dere, Brudder Horace.” Ink drops(?) at bottom edge cover, uniform marginal toning  throughout, else very good, and superior for the genre. Cover colors bright. Excessively rare, personifying ephemera: Neither abebooks,  google books, nor WorldCat locate - or even cite - any copies; abebooks finds no copies of any of this publisher’s fifty-plus “dime hand  books.” An American cultural document, suitable for display. $200-250 

9-8. A Chaplain writes, “I am really sick of the idea of bringing home a colored boy or girl.”

Lengthy letter from “Pa,” evidently an Army Chaplain, possibly from area of Easton, Pa. Writing from Washington, July 20, 1865, 6 pp.,  5 x 8, on three leaves imprinted “United States Sanitary Commission,” a forerunner of Red Cross. To his young son, Frankie. Visited  Smithsonian, “full of curiosities...There you can see almost all kinds of animals that live on Earth, or in water, or air. There are also a  great many marble statues, & splendid paintings. Besides all these you can see several large meteoric stones... One of them weighs 1400  lbs...thought by many that they fall from the Moon. A few years ago I saw one pass through the air. It landed in Ohio...If we go to Mays  Landing, it is so near Philadelphia that you can go with me...In the meantime, be patient. When you get to be a Chaplain you can come  to Washington and see all those things...Tomorrow I shall visit the Navy Yard. Our officers have their muster out rolls made out...The  Regiment is kept guarding the Depot, & keeping peace among the troops going home. Many of them get whiskey. This is the cause of  most of the trouble in the Army. I am waiting patiently, fully satisfied that Uncle Sam is the loser by not sending me home...It will not  be possible for me to attend the commencement at Easton...The horse that I purchased, & thought so much of,  I had to take back... He warranted the title, but I did not dare to trust it. So many have got in trouble by buying  captured horses...Got my money back. I am now using a ‘U.S.’ horse...Will bring one for Ma Bronson if she  says she wishes it...I was to have purchased the horse of Col. Telford. He is now under arrest, & it will go hard  with him...I wrote to your mother that I am really sick of the idea of bringing home a colored boy or girl.  Either I will get your Ma’s answer...If she thinks best for me to bring one still, I will do so. You will have to be  more than a year older before teaching the ‘young ones’....” Light toning at folds, else fine. The writer can  probably be identified with research. $160-220 

9-9. As Used by Slaves on their Cabin Beds.

A rare wooden tightener for a “good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite” rope-bed. Southern, early  19th century. As used by slaves and poor whites to tighten the ropes on their beds so that the mattress would  not sag. A soft local wood, primitively carved in shape resembling a slender whale, 20½ long x maximum 3¾  wide x 1¾” thick. 1-1/8” diam. hole, for hanging. Prominent marks showing workmanship, including hewing,  planing, chiseling, and boring. Earth tones, with evidence of bark. Showing fair use, some fine parallel grain  cracks, else good plus, reflecting a lost way of life, though the accompanying rhyme still endures to this day.  Fascinating Americana. Provenance: Acquired from American Southeast by noted Southern scholar. $130-170 

9-10. “Never shall I forget one of the sales which I attended....”

Significant anti-slavery newspaper, The Pennsylvania Freeman, published by Penna. Anti-Slavery Society,  Philadelphia, July 26, 1849, 13¼ x 21, 4 pp. Period name in margin in ink, “E. Lewis.” Lengthy page-one  article, “The Free Soil Anniversary...of the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting the extension of slavery into the  north-west territory, was celebrated by the Free Soilers of the country, in a mass Convention at Cleveland...  Resolutions...unanimously adopted...openly demand either the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia,  or the removal of the seat of government to a free State...,” with letters from Martin Van Buren and Henry Clay, respectively reiterating  “his hostility to the extension of slavery,” and hoping the slavery question will not bring “any danger to the existence of our Union.”  News item, “Colorphobia on Steamboats: ...Mr. Newport F. Henry and family (colored) took passage on board the steamer Rip Van  Winkle, at Albany for N.Y...Mrs. Henry repaired to the promenade deck...when one of the hirelings came up to her and in an insulting  manner ordered her to go below, saying this is no place for you...Mr. Henry then took his family, returned his tickets to the officer,  received his money, left the boat, and took passage on board the steamer Oregon...Men who can insult and outrage respectable women,  on account of their complexion, generally have an avenue to their consciences through the pocket....” Articles include, “Slavery and  Prejudice in Brazil,” “Action on Slavery in N.H.,” and “Slave Market at the South-West,” describing the market in Memphis, and feared  extension of slavery to California and New Mexico: “The average life of slave laborers on sugar plantations does not exceed five years -  consequently, new supplies are in constant demand...There are two slave markets, or pens, in the city, where human beings are  confined like cattle, and exposed for examination and sale. They are here, and also at New Orleans, arranged upon the sidewalk for  show, precisely as a merchant would expose his goods...Never shall I forget one of the sales which I attended...,” describing a mother  and her five children being sold individually to different buyers. “This scene was one of every day occurrence in this fair land....” Old  quarter folds, light foxing and wear, else about very good. No examples of this issue found in Library of Congress’ Chronicling America  database. Very rare. $140-180

9-11. A Black Freeman repairing “ye Highway” in Colonial Massachusetts.

Manuscript minutes of town meeting, Dorchester, Mass., Mar. 28, 1757, showing “Bennet Negro, 4 Days” among local citizens sharing  maintenance of local road. 7½ x 12¼, 1 p., signed by Town Clerk Noah Clap. “At A Meeting of the Select Men...of ye Town of  Dorchester...the Surveyors of ye Highway...had each one his proportion... which he is to repair as ye Law Directs. To Mr. Ebenezer Clap  the way Round ye Swamp....” Listing 21 local citizens and “ye original division of the ways”; “Bennet Negro, 4 Days” is listed last, with  space above and below his name, lending it additional conspicuity. In all, seven members of the Clap family are represented, together  with Moseleys, Bishops, Birds, et al. Modest toning at upper portion, soiling of docketed quarter-panel on verso, else very good, and  highly suited for display. Manuscripts relating to free blacks before the Revolution are uncommon. $275-350 

9-12. “The prejudice against the people of color....”

A.L.S. of noted abolitionist S.E. Sewall, with rich context. Boston, July 3, 1835, 7¾ x 9¾, 2½ pp. To George Kimball, Canaan, N.H.,  who helped found a Canaan academy for black students. “I ordered the things you sent for...I got a few additional optical articles at  Widdifield’s for which I believe you gave me authority. I received the $100 from our Treasurer upon the order you sent. I agree very  cordially with most of your remarks on the prejudice against the people of color...There is a plan on foot of which perhaps you heard  when you were in town, to send out [D.L.] Child to England & France with his wife, as an agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society.  Our Board of Managers has passed a vote recommending the American Society to make such an appointment...Thompson went to N.Y.  to urge the mission on the Society there. I think Child & his wife are well qualified to such a mission, and we cannot do too much for  them, considering what sacrifices they have made for the anti-slavery cause.” Sewall’s assistance would be undone: About a month after  this letter was penned, hundreds of men assaulted Kimball’s New Hampshire school, literally dragging his schoolhouse for blacks off its  foundation and destroying it. Only a shot fired from the window of Kimball’s house by a black student saved them, allowing night to  fall. Sewall, was a central figure in the historic fugitive slave case of Thomas Sims, returned to slavery in a dramatic 1851 episode.  Kimball and the Childs were all pivotal figures in the abolition movement. “The plan to introduce Negroes into this white community  was revolting to the white sense of propriety. Negroes were not recognized as a part of the social system...”--The History of Canaan,  N.H., Wallace, pp. 256-7. A contributor to the Liberator, Kimball is mentioned in John Brown: The Man Who Killed Slavery, by  Reynolds. In the following decade, D.L. Child would attempt a novel plan to reduce the demand for slave labor, by establishing his own  sugar-beet farm, to supplant cotton and other plantation crops. He compiled American Anti-Slavery Society almanacs, and was called  by William Lloyd Garrison “our esteemed friend (and) able and vigorous anti-slavery coadjutor.” In the year of this letter, his wife,  fellow abolitionist Lydia Maria Child, wrote her two-volume History of the Condition of Women, in Various Ages and Nations. All four  figures are found in a rich literature of the genre. Red Boston c.d.s., brown manuscript “12”(?). ½ x 1¾ blank strip of address-leaf  adhered to red wax seal when opened, affecting no text; light cream toning, else about fine. Very scarce. $275-350 

9-13. “Shall they be set free, with full liberty to flood the North?”

Influential antebellum pamphlet, with reaction to Dred Scott, and excessively early appearance of the expression “Africo-American”:  “Slavery, and the Remedy; or, Principles and Suggestions for a Remedial Code...With a Review of the Decision of the Supreme Court in  the case of Dred Scott,” by Samuel Nott. N.Y., 1857, fifth ed. (considered the most important), 5½ x 8¾, tan wrappers, 137 pp., sewn.  Exhaustive, impassioned treatise, its table of contents previewing “Slavery an Evil...Slave-holding not a Crime - Slave-holding and  Slave-making distinguished...The Problem of Africa in America - Impossibility of Removal...Original and actual condition of the  enslaved race - Probable results if African Emigration had been free... Comparison of the Africo-American with the aboriginal African -  The race improved by Slavery, evils notwithstanding...Dissolution of the Union impossible...Equilibrium of North and South...  Slaveholding States alone competent....” Elaborate commentary on the Dred Scott decision: “...What then, it may be asked, is the  Constitution? Is it nothing but the decision of the judges?...Have we deceived ourselves in the airy vision of the Constitution, when  indeed there was no Constitution at all? No standard, to which all acts of legislation, and all judicial decisions, must conform?...The  question with which we are now dealing is, whether a person of the African race can be a citizen of the United States...The facts are as  glaring as the noonday...Shall they be set free, with full liberty to flood the North? Alas! It is one thing to denounce slavery, and another  thing to receive the freed slaves...Shall they be set free and kept South?...” Cover lacking lower right tip, minor edge chipping, some  soiling, slightly loose at lower stitches, light uniform toning, else internally fine and clean. A key pamphlet in the literature of slavery  and freedom in America. Old markings by Mendoza Book Shop, at the time the oldest bookshop in New York City, still illuminated with  gaslight as late as the 1970s. Dumond 86. Library Co. of Philadelphia/ Historical Soc. of Penna. 7236. Sabin 56050. Now very scarce.  $225-300

9-14. “Few Northerners were so favorably known in the South.”

A.L.S. of leading Northern advocate for Southern black education Robert C. Ogden, “The Billows,” Kennebunkport, Maine, Aug. 23,  1908, 8¼ x 10¼, 1½ pp. To Prof. Paul H. Henry. Ogden, who ran Wanamaker’s during its namesake’s service in Pres. Harrison’s  Cabinet, was Pres. of Board of Trustees of Hampton Institute - founded by his friend Samuel Armstrong - and a trustee of Booker T.  Washington’s Tuskegee, and was greatly influenced by their ideals. Also Pres. of the Southern Education Board, he advanced  educational standards for blacks (and whites). Here writing on a planned meeting in N.Y. of “all the Southern State Supts. of  Education...to make them know the Teachers College, The City College of N.Y. and the Public Schools. Dr. Peabody [probably Francis  Peabody of Harvard] suggesting they be brought to Boston for a similar purpose. But now that I am confronted with the need for  making plans that shall fill out the scheme, I find that Dr. Peabody is out of the country...” Requests Henry’s help if he will be in  Cambridge. Notation at top, “To be answered at once....” “In the opening years of the twentieth century this ‘Ogden movement’ was an  effective factor in the educational revival that swept over the Southern states...Few Northerners were so favorably known in the  South.”--encyclopædia entry accompanies. Some very light dampstaining at left, else very good, and in a handsome hand. $90-120 

9-15. Ivory and Gold await Freed Slaves in Liberia.

Pamphlet, “Second Annual Report of Conn. Colonization Society,” New-Haven, May, 1829. 5¾ x 9½, 24 pp., sewn, brown wrapper,  text deckled two sides. Officers include Yale Prof. Benjamin Silliman and Seth Terry. With detailed description of commerce between  the newly patriated in Liberia and the natives. “...A company of emigrants, consisting of 160 individuals, carefully selected, sailed from  Norfolk...and are probably at this time clearing their grounds and erecting their dwellings in Liberia. Of this number, between 40 and  50 were slaves, emancipated by their proprietors, that in Africa they might enjoy the blessings as well as the name of freedom...In the  same vessel the unfortunate Moorish prince, Abduhl Rahaman, whose singular history has excited so wide...an interest, embarked for  his native continent...Not less than 600 free people of color...were seeking a passage to Liberia...Thousands might be sent there...The  difficulty is simply the want of resources...The trade of the colonists with the natives...abounding in cattle, and whence in exchange for  tobacco, pipes, muskets, powder, clothes, &c. it brings back bullocks, ivory, and gold...Asses are lately introduced...Fish nowhere found  in greater quantities. Fruits are plantains, bananas, in endless abundance...twenty varieties of the Prune, Guava, Papaw, Pine Apple,  Grape, tropical Peach and Cherry....” Passing of Ashmun, “the man who founded the colony of Liberia...for the descendants of Africa  here oppressed and crushed...has rested from his labors....” Laments lack of support in America for colonization: “...Little has been  accomplished...A fourth-of-July contribution might be secured...and Connecticut, renowned for its charities, might send out a broad  stream of salvation to refresh the thirsty wilds of Africa....” Long letter of printer Matthew Carey supporting their work, else “the  colored population of the U.S...will in the year 1868, amount to above 10,000,000; in 1882, to 15,000,000, unless some efficient  measures of prevention be adopted! Who can regard this enormous increase without affright?...Can any man who loves his country,  regard the present prospect...without terror?...” Cover frayed at spine and edges, some text foxing, else very good. Very rare. WorldCat  located only the copies at Cornell, Yale, and the British Library.$175-250 

9-16.

(No lot.) 

9-17. The Marriage of Blacks James and Duck – with Judaic Association – and a Twist.

Unusual partly printed marriage certificate for two free blacks, Talbot County, Georgia, Dec. 16/19, 1867, 8¼ x 10½. “To any ordained  Minister of the Gospel, Jewish Minister, Judge, Justice...You are hereby authorized to join James Mathews, a freedman, and Duck  Parker, a freedwoman, in the Holy State of Matrimony....” Signed by Marion Bethune, “Ordinary [Court].” Their names, with  “freedman” and “freedwoman,” repeated in lower portion, in hand of Justice of the Peace, also named Mathews. “Printed at Office of  the West Georgia Gazette, Talbotton, Ga.” Ornate paisley border. On tissue, probably in the interest of post-Civil War economy, foxing,  edge tears at bottom and right, else very satisfactory, and a conversation piece. In view of the rural Southern composition of this legal  form, the inclusion of “Jewish Minister” is unusual. Though there were a number of Jews in the South spanning the war years, the  number of “Jewish Ministers” (i.e. rabbis) in Reconstruction Georgia was very tiny indeed. Signer Bethune is among the rarified ranks  for the briefest term in Congressional history: he was Representative for a nine-week period in 1870-71, before returning to Georgia,  living til 1895. Bethune was also “a member of the Constitutional Convention of Georgia at the time of repeal of the ordinance of  secession”--Congressional Record, Vol. 132, 1991 (modern reference accompanies). $150-200

9-18. A Black Santa Claus at the Orphan Home.

The National Freedman, “Monthly Journal of the New York National Freedman’s Relief Association,” Jan. 15, 1866, 5¾ x 9¼, 40 pp.,  sewn. Including annual report for 1865, with “a few earnest words to say to the friends of the four millions of the lately enfranchised  people of the South...Nearly one half of our annual income ($142,405.23) has been contributed and expended for the physical relief of  those who have been left destitute by slavery and the convulsions of war...And yet he who expects four millions of slaves suddenly  emancipated in the midst of war, in the short space of one or five years to present no objects of pity, no aged, no sick, no orphans...is  expecting what has never been true of the same number of white people anywhere...There are 1,000,000 of freemen and their children  who are eager for the instruction provided by free common schools. The 20,000 teachers needed...would require $10,000,000...less  than the cost of two weeks of war....” Report on freedmens’ difficulties in Florida: “...By refusing to board teachers, and closing all  buildings against schools, it is possible for the people to keep us out altogether....” Extensive details on living conditions and schools for  blacks in Alabama, Georgia, S.C., N.C., and Virginia. Including a heartrending account of Christmas at the Charleston Orphan House  and the “Col. Shaw Orphan Home”: In the former home of Confederate Treasury Sec. Memminger, “the friends of young Africa were  gathered to rejoice with them...Santa Claus was there in unusual glory – a black brother, in truth, fantastically covered with toys of all  sorts, from a mock pistol to a toy whistle...I like to watch the happy children dancing up and down the walks....” Reports on freedmen  from Gens. Howard and Schurz; pages in microscopic type listing contributions for the benefit of freed slaves from around the country  and Europe, the Dutch especially generous. Trustees included John Jay, descendant of the eponymous patriot. Dust toning first and  last pp., some wear, but good. A wealth of content and perspective. Very scarce on the market. $100-140 

9-19. Black Children Caring for White Orphans.

Manuscript document with accounting of “One negro woman & four children hired for the support of the orphans, $147.65,”  reimbursing “Samuel Calhoun, Guardian in account current with the minors of Robert Harris, deceased, from July 2, 1838 to Jan. 1,  1839.” Carrol(l) County (probably Ga., confirmable with research), 7½ x 12. On verso, lengthy separate accounting of “John Brown,  executor of Last Will of Elisha Brown...,” paying small amounts to a dozen local individuals, including “Doct(ors)” Bugg, Delong, and  Smead (twice). Diagonal fold, foxing, else about very good, penned in walnut brown on rich cream vellum. $100-130 

9-20. 

(No lot.) 

9-21. Showing “Loges des Esclaves” – the Rooms of Slaves.

Trio of early French maps of the thousand-mile-long Senegal River area, the slave-trading region on Africa’s Atlantic coast, hotly  contested for some two centuries. Showing the fort and surrounding areas from which the French shipped black slaves to its Louisiana  colony – including identification of the very rooms in which they were housed awaiting transit. All c. 1747, copperplate: “Cours de la  Riviere de Senegal...Avec le Lac du Panier Foule...,” 6½ x 9½, rivers hand-watercolored in palest blue. Baroque cartouche. Attributed  to Jacques Nicholas Bellin, one of that century’s most important mapmakers, noted for his detail and accuracy; Paris. • Complementary  map of Senegalese rivers “...Depuis son Embouchure Jusqu’au Desert...,” 7¼ x 10, a more expansive view of the coast, from Saint-Louis  north to Bekio, including Isle de Bifeche. Ornate cartouche frame. • Three-part composite plan of Fort St. Joseph - including “Loges des  Esclaves,” a narrow area at rear of the fortress used to house slaves awaiting transit to America. Other views show broader region with  tiny houses denoting settlements along Senegal River, and larger map of Isle Saint Louis. Scarce. $175-225 (3 pcs.) 

9-22. “The Negro is as human as the other members of the family of mankind.”

Varied group of Black Americana: Original photograph, n.p., c. 1905, of ornate brick and cut stone building under construction, black  laborer posed in foreground at bottom of trestle ramp into second-floor opening. 8¾ x 10½. Nine others, several black, on scaffolding  and in window openings. Two hard creases at bottom, mount lacking two corners, foxing, but satisfactory. • Song sheet, “Kingdom  Coming,” Civil War date, trimmed to 6 x 8. Pictorial woodcut border three sides, black cherubs at top holding banner “Ethiopian,”  banjoist at side. Lyrics include “Linkum gumboats” and “de Linkum sojers.” Mottling of cheap paper, lacking bottom portion with  imprint, else satisfactory. • Magazine, “The Colored Harvest,” “for the aid of the Colored Missions,” Baltimore, Oct.-Nov. 1934, 7½ x  10¾, 16 pp. Cover photo of black woman with rake. Articles from around the country on blacks and the Catholic Church. News from  Prague of ordination of “Rev. Max Murphy, a young American Negro who finished his studies abroad....” Small label removed, old half  fold, handling evidence, but good plus. • Booklet, “Negro History Week - beginning Feb. 9, 1936,” brown on cream, 6 x 9, 15 pp., illus.,  in preparation for 20th anniversary of Assn. for the Study of Negro Life and History, Washington. Lineoleum-block cover design,  “Ethiopia Appeals for Justice,” by James L. Wells, one of first American artists to focus on printmaking. Articles include “Study of the  Negro” by historian C.G. Woodson: “The Negro is as human as the other members of the family of mankind...The mis-educated Negro  joins the opposition with the objection that the study of the Negro keeps alive questions which should be forgotten...And yet the Negro  today is all but lost. The Association has no special brand for the solution of the race problem except to learn to think....” Fascinating.  V.F. WorldCat locates only six copies. • Colorful pictorial jacket (only) for 10” double-record set, “Little Black Sambo and the Twins,”  “As told by Paul Wing with Henri René and his orchestra,” RCA Victor, c. 1946. Eight-panel storyboard inside: “...Black Mumbo and  Black Jumbo danced with joy when they see their children safe and sound....” Wear but good. $150-200 (5 pcs.) 

9-23. Signed by the Largest Slave Auctioneer in South Carolina.

Bill of sale for “One negro man named Simon, warranted sound, except a cut, & contraction thereby on the thumb,” sold by Tho(mas)  N. Gadsden to D.W. Lamb for $500, Charleston, S.C., June 2, 1858, 8¼ x 14. On powder blue, partly printed, with outline Old English  heading, “The State of South-Carolina....” Local imprint, 40 Broad St. Signed by A.C. Gadsden and Tho. N. Gadsden, the latter recorded  as “the largest slave auctioneer in the state, under whose hammer men, women and children go off by thousands; its stroke probably  sunders daily husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, perhaps to see each other’s faces no more. Now who  supplies the auction table of this Thomas N. Gadsden, Esq., with its loads of human merchandise? These same detested ‘soul  drivers’...his own reverend brother, Dr. Gadsen...”--“The Internal Slave Trade of the U.S.,” in In the Hands of Strangers: Readings on  Foreign and Domestic Slave Trading (Conrad, ed.). He also appears in Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders and Slaves in the Old  South (Tadman, 1996), and other works. Gadsden County, Fla. is named for his eponymous brother of the Gadsden Purchase (and  ejection of the Seminoles from Florida). The buyer here, D.W. Lamb, was a Charleston physician. Cream discoloration, perhaps light-  staining, at two horizontal folds and blank edge, else darkly penned, very good. Thomas Gadsden material is very scarce on the market.  $200-275

9-24. The “Political Equality Club.”

Interesting group of four covers, two addressed to noted Quaker abolitionist Emily Howland, Sherwood, N.Y., by now a women’s rights  activist, and two to her suffragette niece. Comprising: Envelope to Emily, with vertical notation in sender’s hand, “If not called for in 10  days, return to Wm. P. Hastings, Maryville, Tenn.” Hastings, evidently also a Quaker, variously presided over Freedmen’s Normal  Institute and Hastings’ Colored Institute in Tenn., operated by the New England Friends for some 200 blacks. Black c.d.s., New  Market, Tenn., Oct. 2, n.y. but Reconstruction era. Some toning, tears at top flap, else good plus. • #9 size envelope to her, “P.O. Dept.,  Lottsburg, Va., Official Business” cornercard crossed out, overwritten “Miss Putnam, Holley School....” Postmarked Lottsburg, Aug. 24,  (1907), pair of 2¢ red Washington. An Oberlin College graduate, Caroline Putnam traveled the country with her friend Sallie Holley,  raising money for abolitionism. In 1868, Putnam, with Emily Howland’s help, opened the Holley School - naming it for her friend.  Running the school til her retirement in 1903, Putnam held day and night classes for freed slaves, teaching the three R’s. The Holley  School continued well into the 1960s as an adult learning center; the building is today a landmark. Waterstained, corners defective,  tears affecting Putnam’s signature, but collectible, and an excessively rare (white) figure in black history. • Two European-size covers to  Isabel Howland - Emily’s niece, with French postage stamps, 1915 and 1929. One addressed, “Miss Isabel Howland, Woman Suffrage  Headquarters, Exchange St., Auburn, N.Y.” Bold pencil markings on verso, probably in her hand, “Mrs. Barnhart / 24-48 to Herbert.”  Born 1859, Isabel was one of the first women to attend Cornell. Following in her famous aunt’s footsteps - the two traveled to Europe  together in 1884 - she was active in the Cayuga County Political Equality Club and Association for Advancement of Women, among  others. Some postal wrinkling and handling, minor toning, else V.G. $150-225 (4 pcs.) 

9-25. America’s First Black Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff – and the Buffalo Soldiers.

Superb T.L.S. of C(olin) L. Powell, who had initiated the project for a statue honoring the Buffalo Soldiers, when he was serving at Fort  Leavenworth, one of their historical homes. In July 1992, Powell was guest speaker at the Buffalo Soldiers monument’s unveiling; his  reference in this letter is to that occasion. On letterhead “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” with magnificently steel-engraving of  their special flag, in red, midnight blue, sky blue, and metallic gold. Washington, Oct. 7, 1992, 7¼ x 7¾. To Charles Briscoe, Calif. “It  was an honor for me to participate in the ceremony honoring the Buffalo Soldiers. The monument is a tribute to the loyalty,  professionalism, and dedication of these courageous men. I am happy to enclose the autographed photograph you requested....” In the  Indian Wars period, black Army units serving on the frontier came to be called “Buffalo Soldiers,” Indians likening their dark curly hair  to that of buffalos. The final organizational descendant of the Buffalo Soldiers was deactivated in 1951, having been the last segregated  combat regiment in the Army. Three nearly undetectable slivers of clear tape on verso, at blank top edge, apparently where once tipped  to mat, some handling creases, else about very fine, bright and strikingly attractive. • Printed color photograph with enormous genuine  styled ink signature of Powell. 8 x 10, in dress uniform, in front of flag. Soft blind horizontal crease, else very fine, and attractive. A Viet  Nam veteran who investigated the My Lai massacre, Powell oversaw the invasion of Panama and first Gulf War. The first black  Secretary of State, he was the only black to ever serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. $275-350 (2 pcs.) 

9-26. “Native Life in the Dark Continent.”

Promotional folder for “Grand Concert by the South African Native Choir,” appearing at City Hall, Keene (N.H.), May 4 (1894), 6 x 9¼,  4 pp. “Songs in English Kaffir and Dutch-Hottentot.” Large photo of the ensemble, all but its white director in elaborate costume and  regalia. “Weird and Realistic Scenes of Native Life in the Dark Continent. Kaffir Witch-Doctor - Kaffir Wedding. ‘Crocodile’ and  ‘Mouse,’ the two little Kaffir Boys, in their specialties....” Extensive text on verso, plus reviews from around North America of the  production, “representing seven distinct tribes, speaking five languages - The only organization of its kind in the world...Such a vivid  idea of ‘Darkest Africa’....” The Choir even appeared in London, under Paderewski. Light foxing, average handling and fold wear, else  about very good, and excessively rare ephemera. WorldCat locates nothing relating to the Choir. $110-140 

Go to Section 10: Ending the Oceanic Slave Trade - Liberia